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Friday, January 15, 2016

MoCo fails again as General Dynamics chooses Reston for new headquarters

The first weeks of 2016 in Montgomery County have been dominated with promises of new tax hikes and perpetuation of the County's liquor monopoly by elected officials, exaggerated claims of miracle solutions to homelessness, and the discovery that yes, your kids in Montgomery County Public Schools are still being zapped by radioactive gas over the EPA limit - and that County officials hid this from you for some time. But across the river in rival Fairfax County, they've spent the month doing what they do best - cleaning MoCo's clock in economic development.

The first big win by a regional jurisdiction this year is the winner of the competition for the next General Dynamics headquarters - Fairfax County.

A search that considered hundreds of sites around our region and the nation ended at a piece of property at 11011 Sunset Hills Road in Reston. Right off the Dulles Toll Road.

No public effort was made by Montgomery County to win over General Dynamics. Neither the County Executive, nor the County Council, made any public overtures to General Dynamics. That, and offering incentives, are about the only tools Montgomery County could employ, considering that officials are still refusing to build the long-delayed Potomac River crossing west of the American Legion Bridge.

Without direct access to Dulles Airport, and with a severely-unfriendly business climate, it's difficult to appeal to a major defense contractor like General Dynamics.

Fairfax site has what none inMontgomery have -direct access to coveted Dulles International Airport

Loren Thompson, a defense consultant, said it was no surprise that the company decided to stay in Northern Virginia, close to the Pentagon and Washington Dulles International Airport.

“I think the business climate in Northern Virginia is generally more favorable to corporate headquarters than the District or Maryland...if you’ve followed GD over the years, you know the financial implications would have been paramount in their decision of when to move and where to move.”

- The Washington Post, January 12

GenDyn is the third-largest Pentagon contractor, and will bring 200 high-wage jobs to this corporate headquarters, with two future 30,000 SF additions planned for more jobs.

The headquarters could easily have been accommodated by any of several supposedly-struggling and vacant office parks in Montgomery County. Many of these are currently being put to such sexy uses as cookie-cutter townhomes and self-storage facilities, as Montgomery County has failed to attract a single major corporate headquarters in over a decade.

GenDyn's plans also completely contradict the talking points given by the Montgomery County political cartel, who have told us that corporate tenants are all downsizing, and have no interest in suburban campuses (never mind that the top companies in the world like Facebook, Google and Apple all operate out of suburban campuses).

Oops. General Dynamics is increasing its square footage from 175,000 SF in its current headquarters, to 250,000 SF when its new headquarters is completely built out, according to current plans. Its choice was - a suburban office park, which at over a mile from the nearest Metro station, won't get many millennials to walk to work. But count on those millennials to still apply - and drive - in droves, because GenDyn has what they really want - high-wage jobs, something the moribund MoCo economy has failed to generate in the private sector over the last fourteen years.

Imagine the outcome of the General Dynamics race had our leaders wisely built the Dulles access planned for decades ago. Several perfect sites in the I-270 corridor would suddenly have been on the table. GenDyn wouldn't have worked for locations like downtown Bethesda, downtown Silver Spring or Pike & Rose, because they need a secure campus away from urban bustle.

When the next corporate HQ race begins, will we have those sites left, or will they all have been converted to residential? Will we still be no further toward a new Potomac River crossing to provide the Dulles Airport access international firms demand?

As impotent as Montgomery County has been in these private sector contests, our elected officials are even dropping the ball in attracting government jobs in recent times. County Executive Ike Leggett recently told the Washington Post that he decided unilaterally to pass on the tens-of-millions of dollars in economic development the FBI headquarters would have provided MoCo, solely so that his personal friend could reap the political windfall in Prince George's County.

Does that make you angry? It should. It raises, at a minimum, serious ethical questions. Have you heard anything about Montgomery pursuing the Transportation Security Administration headquarters, now that it's back on the regional table again?

How about a bid for the new Washington Redskins stadium? We just passed on D.C. United, despite having likely the largest concentration of United fans in the region within Montgomery County.

The Redskins won't change their name, and District officials have - to our advantage - decided to cut off their nose to spite their face, by requiring a name change before wooing them back to DC. Putting politics over the economic best interests of your constituents? Hmm....that sounds familiar.

Loudoun is already negotiating. Where is Montgomery County?

The same place we always are under the "leadership" of the Montgomery County political machine. Asleep at the switch. Ninth runner up. Last place. Loser.

8:11: We're in such deep decline in terms of private sector economic development that keeping Marriott will barely be noticed. Not even a blip on the radar. We only have to keep Marriott to avoid the ultimate humiliation.

Are you on the board of General Dynamics? How would you be privy to their intent?

Wait what? Can you explain that first part. The loss is in the competition? They said they were only looking at NoVa, so there never was a competition? MoCo didn't lose anything from where they were - so where is the loss?

How is winning the only thing again?

And are you saying MoCo must benefit at all costs despite losses elsewhere? Moving around a Fortune 500 would be a sum zero game for the US. It just helps local areas, but us as US citizens it's sum zero. So you're suggesting we hurt NoVa for our benefit? Screw them?

What I get from the article is (a) this looks like a straight lift-and-drop move; (b) the requirement for the secure campus may have been the overriding factor and (c) there's already a number of other GD campuses in NoVA.

IMHO I would bet that needing to remain close to the IT and missions systems units was a prime requirement for the search.

It does bring up the question of why they didn't put in a bid no the Comsat property but maybe I just answered my own question....

A VA defense firm stays in VA...and that's news to someone? Of course they stayed next to the Pentagon; MoCo would have had to give out god knows how much in corporate subsidies in order to lure them away from what makes sense. Thank god our politicians aren't that stupid to give away our tax dollars just for a headline.

This blog post sums up why no one can personally stand Dyer. Even his one supporter (mom, presumably) can't defend this one. Why can't you just stick to the microblogging, Dyer, and leave policy stuff to the grownups who actually understand the issues at play?

The new site isn't "over a mile" from the Metro station. It's 0.8 miles - just a few hundred feet over the 0.5 mile optimum walkshed distance. You could have checked this yourself by a quick visit to Google Maps. And surely, a forward-thinking company such as GenGyn would provide free van service coming and going.

Speaking of Discovery, why isn't downtown Bethesda our crown jewel anymore? Every building going up is residential. The office building on East West steps from Metro was apparently a hard sell. And we don't have a world class hotel. Every hotel project has stalled.

Suggesting that the President of the Montgomery County Council, elected by both his constituents and his fellow elected Councilmen, is somehow the moral equivalent of ISIS, is definitely a "minority view".

The 4500 EW Hwy building is approximately 200 steps away from the Metro station, not just "a few steps away". And it's quite a bit farther away from any restaurants or shops.

The only stalled hotel project of which I'm aware, is the proposed Westin at the site of the Connor Building. I'm pretty sure that the Hyatt Regency is a "world class" hotel, and it's been there for three decades.

There are over 2,000 new apartments or condos scheduled to be built in downtown Bethesda during the next few years. So it seems like it's still extremely desirable. And office vacancy rates are only a fraction of Dyer's coveted moribund suburban office parks.

4:43: Apartments and condos are residential - how does that increase high-wage jobs? 4500 East-West is a very short walk to Metro. It was the moribund MoCo economy that was its albatross not proximity to Metro.

12:47: Back to your stalking and harassment ways again? Both are criminal offenses that will land you in jail. You do a bad job hiding your identity, since you used the phrase, "self-proclaimed recording artist". Oops. And you were one of a handful of people in certain development meetings in downtown Bethesda. You're not the sharpest knife in the drawer, that's for sure. Your name being exposed would be a career ender for you and your patrons and sugar daddies. The smartest thing to do would be to shut up, stop trolling, and get your life and issues in order.

"Apartments and condos are residential - how does that increase high-wage jobs?"

The symbiotic relationship between employees and employers goes over Dyer's head? Why am I not surprised. MoCo has added over 10K jobs in the last year alone, has an unemployment rate below 4%, has a higher % job growth than both Fairfax and DC every year so far this decade, is adding thousands of high-end units a year, and Dyer pretends like we're floundering pieces of shit.

And what's Dyer's contribution to the county? Oh, he's going to whine about how the county didn't throw enough tax dollars at GD to bring them here. Because the Council having financial restraint is a bad thing, in Dyer's eyes.

10:43: The vast majority of the jobs added in MoCo are minimum wage, retail/restaurant. That's one of the reasons we have a $70+M deficit.

Montgomery does not have a higher job growth than DC or Fairfax. You are citing a fake study County leaders used taxpayer money to fund. As Bill Turque reported in the Washington Post, the study used dishonest math to incredibly inflate MoCo job growth. In fact, we are way behind DC and Fairfax.

Please use the legitimate statistics from the Bureau of Labor.

Once again I remind you - unemployment rate tells you how many are employed; it DOES NOT mean those jobs are located inside Montgomery County!!

Of course there's a structural deficit. That's how governments run - they tax what they need. They're not running around taxing more than they need so they can run surpluses, though apparently you think that'd be a good idea??

Why do you keep saying "[t]he vast majority of the jobs added in MoCo are minimum wage" without ever citing an actual fact? The only thing you ever mention is how MoCo jobs suck because we added a Costco. Yet Costco pays those lowly (supposedly, according to Dyer) retail employees an average of $50K a year. None of your comments actually make sense or are supported by reality.

Ignoring, for a moment, the utter randomness of his comment about George Leventhal, does Dyer oppose decriminalization of marijuana? That position seems odd and inconsistent with the rest of his views.

7:32: Please. Retail and restaurant jobs do not average $50K a year. Costco is only one store. No one will confuse it with Northrop or Intelsat anytime soon.

Good governments don't spend above their means, and then simply raise taxes to cover the difference every year.

You're the one out of touch with reality. All the actual business experts in the region disagree with every false statement you've made. While the MoCo political cartel has a hard time accepting it, merely making a claim doesn't make it so.

There was an article in this week's Washington Business Journal about the GD move. It says they looked at "hundreds of locations around the country", so perhaps MoCo was under consideration. About 150 jobs will be at this location, which is their headquarters. The location in Reston is on property they bought and will be built with a low profile so it's not visible from the Dulles Toll Road, for security reasons.

I think it's a stretch to say MoCo failed because they didn't move to MoCo, but maybe MoCo _was_ under consideration. To me, the best location would be in the Fernwood/Rock Spring office park area, but I'm not sure if any of those buildings meet their security requirements _and_ are for sale. The article implied that GD wanted to buy instead of lease for financial reasons.

At the same time, I doubt GD would move too far away from their current location in VA as they risk a lot of those employees deciding to leave instead of move. This is their headquarters office, so I think a lot of those jobs are not the type you can easily find replacements for -- they require knowledge of the company's internal processes.

Robert, that's not what was said. What was said is:1. your repeated claim that most new county jobs are in retail is obviously baseless and nonsensical2. that the only retail example you ever cite is MoCo adding a Costco3. that's a poor example on your part because the average retail position at Costco pays $50K.

Do you understand now, Robert? Critical reading is an important skill; I suggest you try and develop the ability.

It honestly would make more sense to rant that General Electric didn't pick MoCo to move to. Yes, that'd be a completely random rant, but at least it's more logical than the idea of a VA defense contractor picking MoCo over VA. This entire post is the most inane thing I've ever seen.

GE announced just a few weeks ago that they are moving their headquarters from Fairfield, Connecticut to Boston. Since that's another 150 miles farther from MoCo, it's yet another can of Whupp-ass unleashed against Hans Riemer.

1:22: GenDyn examined properties throughout the region. They rejected MoCo. They rejected it for reasons that have been known to our elected officials for years, yet they've taken no action to address those weaknesses. That's what's inane.

6:04: Unfortunately, your false claim of MoCo job growth not being predominantly low-wage retail would require exactly those type of large corporate headquarters. They haven't opened. That's a fact. 3 people in a little office here, 9 people in a little office there...nah, even Count von Count can't make those numbers add up.

I think he is saying 200 are in the main HQ so those 200 jobs stays in VA and did not come to Montgomery County. So the Fortune 500 company's HQ's 200 jobs are the only important ones, is that what you are saying?

"The fact that most jobs are retail and restaurant is obvious, because no major employer has relocated here in over a decade."

Dyer is, officially, one of the stupidest people I've ever encountered. You realize these are easy facts to look up? Only about 9% of jobs in MoCo are in retail and the vast majority of the jobs growth we've seen in the last few years has been in sectors other than retail. You're right that we have more retail jobs/offerings than a few years ago (only you would find that to be a bad thing), but that makes up only a fraction of new jobs created.

Here's the data if you care to actually educate yourself at some point and rely on facts rather than just saying the same dumb, baseless comments over and over again: http://www.dllr.state.md.us/lmi/

"8:38: Retail/restaurant have been way more than 9% of private sector job growth in Montgomery County in recent years. Whether the MoCo cartel wants to admit that embarrassing fact is irrelevant.

Is replacing high-wage jobs with non-living-wage retail/restaurant a bad trend? Absolutely. "Only you would find that to be a good thing."

This is the only media outlet in the County regularly bringing the hard, embarrassing facts of our elected officials' incompetence to the public."

Dyer, good grief. You are embarrassing yourself. The MoCo "cartel" OBVIOUSLY isn't in charge of compiling labor figures - it's the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, in conjunction with the United States Department of Labor. Did you not even look at the link of data I provided? It's just dumbfounding how astonishingly stupid you come across. I provide you the EXACT FIGURES and all you say is "nuh uh, it's a MoCo conspiracy."

And, again, the 9% retail jobs is in line with historical averages. The number of retail jobs has increased because our retail offerings have increased (yes, of course that's a good thing) but retail job growth is only a fraction of overall job growth we've seen in MoCo (also a very good thing). Stop being a complete dimwit and please try to form a response that actually uses facts instead of just spewing the uneducated, unfounded B.S. that currently fills your head.

You're wrong, a 100 different people have told you you're wrong, and all you can say is the facts must be fabricated by the "MoCo cartel." You're the most intellectually embarrassing person I've ever come across.

7:38: 9% retail/restaurant share of all private sector jobs created in recent years simply doesn't add up for anyone following the real estate and economic development sectors closely in Montgomery County. Kind of like that mindboggling statistic that claims we grew massively in population but overall driving levels stayed the same. Anyone who drives the major commuter routes daily knows that "stat" is total malarkey. The Planning Department claims no intersections on River Road are failing during rush hour.

Some "statistics" are discredited by reality, and 9% would be one of them.

Are you proposing a talking point similar to EYA, er, Casey Anderson, that school overcrowding is totally unrelated to the massive development countywide since 2002? It's just coming from the existing homes - which, last time I checked, house smaller families than in decades past, now that well-off people have only 1.5 kids?

You're saying that despite a boom in restaurants and retail opening, and little to no office space opening, and not a single major corporate headquarters being built, that thousands of high-wage white collar jobs are somehow being created within existing offices? What, are they sharing desks or something?

If Dyer can decide on a whim that the Philippines isn't a part of SE Asia, I don't see why he can't decide on job creation statistics for Montgomery County. At least he didn't decide we live in Virginia.

Dyer, thank you for further proving you're an intellectual midget and completely incapable of supporting even your most basic - and easily quantifiable - assertions. 9% is a quantitative fact that I've proven and supported with 13 years worth of quarterly employment census data sets. Literally all you do in reply is say "nuh uh! I'm going to say the opposite and put 'Fact. Period.' at the end of my inane statement and that beats the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation and United States Department of Labor statistics!"

Hm. I recently researched the availability/outlook of expected job openings in the county for Industrial/Organizational Psychologists. It is a field on a steady rise nationally, but here in MOCO the increase rate dips notably low.

I could not help but consider that this is a profession typically hired by larger organizations. Might the poor outlook be another reflection, however indirect, that there may be a limited expectation for new and expanding large companies that require such staff to be here?